PORTLAND — As the city seeks to meet a 1991 state and federal mandate to reduce the flow of contaminated wastewater in Casco Bay, four sewer separation projects put out for bids this year have all come back with higher costs than estimated. “Our feeling is that there is a lot of work and not […]

PORTLAND — City Manager Jon Jennings on Monday said it will be up to city councilors to set priorities as he proposed a $263.3 million budget for fiscal year 2020. “The most difficult budget decisions we are facing this year are in our social services division,” Jennings said at the April 8 meeting. “… We […]

PORTLAND — The School Board on Monday unanimously approved a spending package of nearly $118 million. The fiscal year 2020 budget, which would add 61 cents per $1,000 of valuation to the property tax rate, or about $144 a year to a home valued at $240,000, now goes to the City Council. The School Board took […]

PORTLAND — A city plan to designate 15 buildings as historic structures encountered strong opposition from the buildings’ owners April 3. “If you could kindly not choose that building. We have done nothing wrong and we do not want another layer of government to put more restrictions on us,” Michael Kaplan said during the Historic Preservation […]

PORTLAND — It will be at least June before the 12-member Parks Commission weighs in on a proposed leash law for Baxter Woods. In the meantime, Parks, Recreation & Facilities Deputy Director Ethan Hipple said he will look at ways to protect the bird sanctuary and address safety concerns raised by some users of the park […]

PORTLAND — The more than 2,000 miles to the the nation’s southern border can make it difficult to grasp what’s at stake in the immigration debate. But students in Kirsten Platt’s human rights class at Deering High School found a way to make the situation more real to the wider school community. As part of a […]

PORTLAND — Students in the Newspaper Club at Lyman Moore Middle School are covering topics and issues they’re passionate about. That includes everything from women’s rights to deforestation, to the longest-ever federal government shutdown, and even their favorite recipes or jokes. Adviser, Court Caywood, a seventh grade English and language arts teacher, said all of the […]